Franklin on FranklinPaul M. Zall Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography ends in 1758, some thirty years before he died. Those three decades included some of the statesman's greatest triumphs, yet instead of including them in his memoir, Franklin spent the years continually revising his original text. Paul Zall has created a new autobiographical account of Franklin's entire life. By returning to a newly recovered early draft of the Autobiography, he strips away later layers of moralizing to reveal the story as Franklin first wrote it: how a poor boy from Boston used words and hard work to become America's first world-class citizen. To cover Franklin's career as a diplomat and as the only signatory of all three key documents of the American Revolution, Zall interweaves autobiographical comments from Franklin's personal letters and private journals. Franklin emerges as different from the common perception of him as a crafty "Man of Reason." His raw words reveal the bitter infighting among both British and American politicians and his personal struggle with his son's choice of the opposite side in the fight for the future of two countries. Without the veneer of second thoughts, his lifelong struggle to control his temper carries greater poignancy, as do his later years spent nursing his wounded pride. Susceptible to both fallibility and frustration, the honest Franklin depicted in his own words nevertheless remains an uncommon common man, perhaps even more so than previously thought. |
From inside the book
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... Philadelphia 25 September-1 October 1723 31 4. Settling at Philadelphia October 1723–May 1724 36 5. A Prodigal's Return to Boston April 25-June 1724 41 6. Plotting to Deceive & Being Deceived June-November 1724. 49 7. Living in London ...
... Philadelphia” is a figment of imagination." Just as relevant is the way Franklin began the text of his will: “I, Benjamin Franklin, of Philadelphia, printer.” As printer, he doubled as writer. His almanac and newspaper enabled early ...
... Philadelphia munching on a roll, carrying two others, one under each arm. The first draft had him merely passing by the door of his future father-in-law. The interpolation had him seen by Deborah Read, who thought he made a ridiculous ...
... Philadelphia Weekly Mercury. But among them, the Courant was uniquely literary. Along with staple local and reprinted items, its columns carried essays and poems. Its writers offered a good school for Franklin, who between 12 April and ...
... 300 Miles from home, without the least Recommendation to or Knowledge of any Person in the Place, and with very little Money in my Pocket." 3 ON THE ROAD TO PHILADELPHIA 25 SEPTEMBER-1 OCTOBER 1723 30 FRANKLIN ON FRANKLIN.
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
26 | |
31 | |
36 | |
41 | |
49 | |
25 December 172421 July 1726 | 59 |
1749 | 156 |
17481753 | 160 |
17431753 | 170 |
1754 | 178 |
1756 | 194 |
17561757 | 205 |
17571762 | 218 |
17571765 | 226 |
23 July11 October 1726 | 69 |
Future 17261727 | 79 |
May 1728September 1730 | 89 |
17291730 | 95 |
17311732 | 103 |
17311754 | 120 |
17361739 | 130 |
17391740 | 138 |
1740s | 146 |
17661770 | 232 |
17701774 | 240 |
17741775 | 250 |
17751785 | 259 |
17851790 | 270 |
Notes | 289 |
Selected Bibliography | 299 |
Index | 303 |